Hottest tablet launches of MWC 2012

The latest and greatest Apple iPad alternatives

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1)

The Samsung tablets just keep on coming and next in the Galaxy Tab family is the Tab 2 10.1 which follows the recently announced 7-inch Tab 2. The Tab 2 10.1 maintains a dual-core-processor whilst adopting a newly styled 9.7mm thick form factor in a device that lines up at just 588g in weight. Available in 16GB and 32GB models the second-generation 10.1-inch Samsung tablet will feature a 3-megapixel rear-mounted camera and a second, VGA snapper on the front and will run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Price: TBC

Release date: March 2012

2/7

Asus Transformer Pad 300

We loved the original Transformer and then the Transformer Prime, and now Asus is adding a more budget-friendly member to the tablet family with the Transformer Pad 300. Like current models it runs on a NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor, but this time has a 10.1-inch IPS screen with a 1280x800 resolution. A 1.2=megapixel front-facing camera will cover video calls, while an 8-megapixel snapper should make for decent pics and HD recording. Crucially there is an optional keyboard dock which should ramp up the battery life from around 10 hours to an impressive 15 hours tablet time.

Price: TBC

Release date: TBC

3/7

Huawei Mediapad 10

Right at the end of its MWC 2012 press conference, Huawei dropped this bombshell of a tablet. Claiming it to be the world's first quad-core tablet, our immediate thoughts were twofold: has no-one at Huawei heard of the Asus Transformer Prime? And secondly, just how powerful is this slimline behemoth going to be? With a 1.5GHz K3 quad-core processor and 2GB RAM locked away under the bonnet, this tablet means business. The screen is a whole 10.1-inch, 1080p's worth of big deal, and with an 8MP camera on the back accompanying a 1.3MP camera on the front, this Ice Cream Sandwich tablet is going to be anything but vanilla.

Price: TBC

Release date: TBC

4/7

ZTE PF100

Joining a slew of Android and Windows Phone smartphones, ZTE has also introduced a raft of new Google-powered tablet devices with the quad-core packing PF100 the pick of the bunch. Aside from its Nvidia T30S 1.5GHz quad-core CPU making for a supremely speedy overall performance, the 10.1-inch (WVGA resolution) tablet runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and features an Icera 450 modem for HSPA connectivity, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1GB of RAM and a decent 16GB of internal storage.

Price: TBC

Release date: TBC

5/7

Viewsonic Viewpad E70

The E70 is just one of a slew of new Android Ice Cream Sandwich tablets unveiled by Viewsonic at this years Mobile World Congress. It comes in at the bottom end of the range, with an enticing price point of just £129, a figure that should make the E70 a great option for those who just want to dip their toes in the tablet market. That said, the tech specs are what you would expect for such a low price and this tablet is not going to have the iPad 2 or the Transformer Prime looking over their shoulders. A single-core 1GHz processor, a 7-inch touchscreen and up to 32GB of MicroSD storage is what you get for your buck, which actually seems fairly reasonable to us.

Price: £129

Release date: Q2 2012

6/7

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is not dissimilar to its 10.1-inch brother, the Galaxy Tab 2. The major difference is a superficial one: the Galaxy Note comes with the S-Pen stylus and Samsung's own S-Note software. Along with the 10.1-inch screen, the Galaxy Note 10.1 has clearly been optimised for note-taking and is backed by a spritely 1.4GHz dual-core processor, ensuring that accompanying processor-heavy applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Ideas run smoothly alongside Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Price: TBC

Release date: TBC

7/7

Asus Padfone

"Is it a tablet or a phone?" you cry. Well, it's both. Asus has finally officially unveiled the Padfone in Barcelona this year, including the tech specs. The Padfone Station (the tablet part of the device) has a 10.1-inch capacitive touch screen, a front-mounted 1.3MP camera and a 24.4Whr battery that gives the device five-times more battery life. All the raw power comes from the Padfone itself (the phone part of the device), which carries a hefty Snapdragon S4 with up to 1.5GHz of dualcore processing power, as well as a rear 8MP camera and 1GB RAM.